


Five Times Puck and Rachel Broke Up and the One Time They Didn't

by ElliottRook



Category: Glee
Genre: F/M, five times fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-28
Updated: 2011-05-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:07:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23300647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElliottRook/pseuds/ElliottRook
Summary: Does what it says on the tin.
Relationships: Rachel Berry/Noah Puckerman, past Finn Hudson/Rachel Berry - Relationship
Kudos: 31





	Five Times Puck and Rachel Broke Up and the One Time They Didn't

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this before the show actually planted some characters in New York, hence Juilliard and not the show's NYADA. Heck when I wrote it I thought Finchel was actually going to be endgame. RIP Cory.

#1: Preoccupied

The first time Rachel and Puck break up, Rachel isn't even sure if it really counts because they weren't together for all that long. They made out for all of ten minutes, she cleaned a slushie off of him, and she felt really bad breaking up with him because she knew that he was doing the hard, noble thing, choosing Glee over football. She truly did want to be friends with him, and it stung to hear him say "We weren't friends before."

But despite that, and despite his lovely arms, and despite the delicious makeout session that Rachel had very much wanted to repeat, it isn't fair to him to stay together. She's in love with Finn, and he's in love with Quinn, and dating each other isn't going to help any of that.

* * *

#2: Mistake

The second time they break up, it still isn't very long--in fact, it's even shorter, just the makeout session this time--but Puck is racked with guilt. He's a badass, but it's no excuse to be a bad friend to Finn. As long as Finn and Rachel have got their on-again, off-again thing going, he really needs to stay out of it, so he leaves Rachel as gracefully as he can manage.

And he can't even do that very well, apparently, because later that day he sees Rachel at her locker, taking down Finn's picture and taking off the necklace with Finn's name and he knows it's his fault, because she just looks so _sad_ that it couldn't be because she dumped Finn.

He thinks about trying to get together with her for real now that she's officially single, but decides that it's too soon, that he would still be betraying Finn at this point. And then he finds himself thinking an oddly large amount of time about that Zizes girl and with everything else going on, he figured that maybe he needs to work through that before anything else, because it's just kind of weird.

* * *

#3: Distance

After New Directions' trip to New York, Rachel and Finn get back together, and just like the last summer, Rachel is sure she's never been happier. They work so well together when it's just the two of them and there's no school drama or Quinn drama, and the summer is full of nights under the stars and sun-soaked days, jam sessions and double dates with Kurt and Blaine, and _magic_.

But it isn't long after senior year starts that things fall apart again. Mr. Schuester encourages all of the glee club to start thinking about college, and offers any help he can give with trying to get musical scholarships. She and Kurt and Blaine are shoo-ins, and Mike Chang is actually considering majoring in dance so he can open up a modern-dance studio, but Finn seems to be dragging his feet about college of any kind, and Rachel remembers why she almost didn't get back together with him in the first place.

She finally just _asks_ him about his plans, reminding him that she has a very real shot at Juilliard, and if he wants to try and get in, too, she can help, and if not there's lots of other colleges in New York but he needs to get on it. She's hoping that maybe, just maybe, he wants out of Lima after all, because she doesn't really want to give him up.

"Honestly, Rachel, I'm probably just going to go to the community college in Westerville. And Kurt and Burt and I have been talking. You know Kurt wants to move to New York with Blaine, so I'm thinking I'll end up taking over the shop. Hummel-Hudson Tires, you know?"

"But--but if you're going to stay in Lima forever, when am I going to see you? And what are you going to do with that voice?"

Finn shrugs. "Local theater? Maybe help Mr. Schue with the younger kids? Maybe there's a glee club in college. I don't know, Rachel, but it doesn't matter, you're the one that was born to be a star."

"Finn," she says, having difficulty maintaining her voice, "When I'm a major Broadway star, or off touring, or filming a movie, who knows? When am I going to see you? Are we supposed to have a long-distance marriage?"

He shrugs. "I just figured I'd live here, and when you had a show or whatever you'd just go do it and come home."

"Finn, how am I going to get roles if I'm not constantly in New York to go to auditions? You realize that there would be weeks of rehearsals and preparations before the show itself? And then interviews and promotional tours...Finn, if you're not in New York, too, then we're _never_ going to see each other."

"Rachel, I'm not good enough to make it in New York, and you know it. Who said we were getting married anyway?"

More is said, but the conversation's essentially over at that point. Rachel finally realizes, deep in her heart, that there's no way this is ever going to work. Unfortunately, Quinn was right about her and Finn, and it's time that she stops pretending otherwise.

She and Finn break up for the very last time.

The next day at school, she's early to Glee, and it's Puck that arrives second. News has gotten around school that she and Finn are over, and Puck is there with his guitar to cheer her up, serenading her with "I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends" by the Beatles.

Rachel resists his charms for all of a week before they end up having a third makeout session in her bed when they're supposed to be practicing a duet.

Somehow, this time, it sticks. They're both single (Puck and Lauren had broken up over the summer), neither of them are pining for someone else, and Puck-- _Noah_ , but only for _her_ \--is much more sensitive than he used to be. Rachel realizes that being with Lauren has worn down some of Puck's sharper edges and left him a better man. He surprises her by serenading her in homeroom on her birthday, buying her chocolates every month on their anniversary, and watching Barbra Streisand movies with her.

Not to mention, the makeouts are really hot. Rachel lets Puck get the slightest bit further than Finn and he's pleased. Plus Puck can do this thing with his tongue on her neck that really gets her going, and she ends up needing to learn all of Kurt's tricks for hickey coverage.

Rachel goes with her dads to New York over Christmas break to do her audition for Juilliard, and Puck is excited to hear about it when she gets back. When the acceptance letters for her and Kurt and Blaine arrive one weekend in March, they have a party in Glee on Monday, but things go wrong again.

Puck smiles sadly at her as he takes her hand to walk with her to his truck. "So you're definitely going to New York in August?"

She nods. "It's what I've always dreamed of," she tells him, but of course, he knows this.

"Rach...I know New York is awesome, but I have no idea how I could afford it. We both know I'm not getting a scholarship anywhere fancy. Music is the only thing I'm good at, but I'm not Juilliard good, not like you." He opens the truck door and she stares up at him from under long lashes.

"You could go to a different school," she says quietly, realizing that this conversation is very familiar.

"My mom needs me, Rach," he says. "Maybe someday, when my sister's a little older, but I can't leave Lima right now."

They don't break up that day, but it's only a few weeks later, when Rachel's attempts to convince him to come to New York keep failing and he gets angry.

Rachel decides it's just as well. She doesn't imagine she'd do well with long distance.

* * *

#4: Timing

Puck ends up taking classes at Westerville Community College and running his pool-cleaning business in his free time. There _is_ a show choir, and he's in it with almost everyone who was in New Directions with him. Zizes is at Ohio State on a wrestling scholarship, and Artie is attending a technical college to get a degree in computers. Kurt and Blaine, of course, are in New York, attending Juilliard with Rachel, but the rest of the club is with him.

Puck dates Quinn--briefly, with Finn's blessing, during a stretch when they decide that it's not going to work out--but it only takes Puck about a month to see that she's so not worth it. She's kind of a bitch, actually. Puck is glad to let Finn have her back, curiosity satisfied once and for all.

Two Saturdays after classes have ended for the summer, Puck is hanging out at the mall, perusing the latest selections at the music store, when he runs into Mercedes. He waves and Mercedes walks over. "What's up?"

"Not much, just another boring Saturday in Lima," he says with a shrug. "You?"

"I'm here with Rachel, actually," Mercedes tells him. "She's staying with her dads for the summer. She said next summer she'll be way too busy with auditions and stuff so she wanted to have some bonding time with them while she can."

Puck nods. The Misters Berry are actually kind of awesome, as he'd learned while dating Rachel. It's then that Rachel makes her entrance, coming around an aisle stacked high with rock memorabilia.

"Oh, hey, Puck, what are you doing here?" she asks, smiling widely.

He shrugs. "Nothing better to do."

Mercedes looks back and forth between them. "Well, Puck, Rachel and I were going to catch a movie, you want to come with us?"

"Sure."

Two hours later, they have a quick bite in the food court, and then Puck tells Mercedes not to worry, he'll drive Rachel home.

"This has been fun," Rachel tells him as they walk to his truck. "It's lonely without school, in a weird way. I mean, I've been hanging out with Mercedes some, but she has Sam now--I guess you knew that--so I can't take up _all_ her time..." Rachel trails off, knowing she's babbling.

"Yeah, they're a great couple," Puck says, opening the door for her. "What about you? Some hot New York guy?"

Rachel laughs and takes her seat in the truck. "No, believe it or not, most of my guy friends in New York are gay. The ones that aren't are taken."

Puck smiles crookedly, leaning on the door. "So you're single?"

"Yeah. You?"

He nods. "I dated some--I dated Quinn--but that was...doomed for failure," he admits. "We could...hang out, since, you know, you can't take up all Mercedes' time."

Rachel nods. "Yeah, it'd be nice to have someone to hang out with."

When they see each other Monday night, hanging out turns into making out in Rachel's dads' basement while the Misters Berry are out at a play, and thus begins their summer fling.

Puck quickly realizes that living on her own has done Rachel a lot of good--she doesn't freak out quite as easily as she once had, knowing that she's capable of handling things herself. The only major drama that comes up is a minor meltdown when Rachel starts overthinking the fact that she's dating the father of her biological mother's adopted daughter, but Puck is quick to point out that she hardly ever even gets to talk to Shelby and it's mostly just on Facebook, and screwy as it sounds it's not like anybody's really inbreeding. "I guess it'll be funny when they make the movie of my life," she finally concedes.

And prone as Rachel can be to theatrics, she's actually fairly easy to keep happy. The smallest nice gesture--flowers for no reason, cooking dinner for her and her dads, cheap presents from the five-and-dime even--leaves her pleased for days. Puck finds himself thinking that he could get used to this for the long haul, possibly, to being her Noah. When they find themselves alone in her house one evening in late June and Rachel gives herself to him fully, it's intense and beautiful in a way he's never experienced, and afterward he finally realizes it's because there's a difference between just another fuck and making love. He's willing to give up whatever badass points it costs him to admit that he prefers the latter.

And once the floodgates have been opened, Rachel can't get enough--she wants it as badly and as often as he does, and wonders aloud what she was so worried about, and why she waited so long.

"I tried to tell you a couple of times," he teases softly, earning a smack on the arm and a grin from her.

In July, while they're lying on a picnic blanket and watching fireworks together, Rachel declares it the best summer ever, and Puck agrees wholeheartedly.

And then Rachel has to be back in New York on August tenth, and Puck realizes he wants nothing more than to go with her, but he just _can't_. Not yet. His sister is going to be turning thirteen next spring and he feels like he needs to help his mom until she's old enough to pull her weight.

On his birthday, he's legally able to buy booze, finally, and Rachel goes with him and they get a bottle of Jack Daniels and spend the evening in her basement, getting drunk. They're on the couch, and she's laying on top of him, and she's tracing small circles on his chest with her finger, looking pensive, and she's just so _beautiful_ that he can't help himself. "I love you."

She sighs deeply. "I know," she says softly. "But I have to go back to New York."

"Yeah," he says sadly, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

"It's a shame, really, but this was doomed from the start to just be a summer fling." She sniffles and lays her head on his chest. He's not sure if she's listening to his heart or if she just doesn't want him to notice the tears--too late, if it's the latter.

"We don't have to break up," he tells her. "We can talk online. I'll get a camera, if you want."

"Noah, I can't. Being separated is too hard. If we're going to be together, we actually have to _be_ together. We've done this before, I don't know why you--why you're so--" She doesn't finish her thought.

He feels her tears making a cold spot on his shirt and he massages at the small of her back. "I can't come to New York. Not now. But what if I did someday?"

Rachel looks up at him and he wipes at her tear tracks with his thumb. "If you ever do, and you want to be with me again, call me."

* * *

#5: Jealousy

Rachel's second year of college goes extremely well. She loves Juilliard, where her talent is appreciated and she's allowed to shine. Slushies to the face are becoming a distant memory, and she has a wide circle of friends from her classes and the audition circuit. Her dads vacation in New York for two weeks during her Christmas break and they all ring in the new year together.

She's in an off-off-Broadway production of _Hairspray_ with Kurt during the spring semester, and dates one of their castmates for a while, but they quickly figure out that stage chemistry isn't romantic chemistry and Rachel decides (again) that maybe it'd be better to focus on becoming a star, until she's Made It, anyway.

Spring break comes and goes and she's drilling herself for finals when her phone rings early one evening. It's Puck.

"What the--?" She answers. "Hello? Noah?"

"Hey, Rach, how are you?" his voice comes through, charming and smooth.

"I'm good, Noah. What's going on?"

"Not a whole lot. What have you been up to? I mean, I kind of see on Facebook, the pictures from your play were really cool, but how are you?"

She hesitates. "I'm doing good, I guess. Kind of surprised to hear from you."

"Yeah, I know. Listen, are you...seeing anyone?" Puck sounds almost nervous.

"Uh, no...why?"

" _Awesome_. Got plans tonight?"

"Noah! Why in the world-- _oh_." Rachel suddenly realizes. "Are you _here_? In New York?"

"Actually I'm downstairs in the residence hall common room, and I would really like to take you to dinner, among other things. Please?"

Rachel snaps her phone shut and ignores when he tries to redial. She grabs her purse and heads to the elevator--she usually takes the stairs for exercise but she has to hurry.

He's standing in the lounge cursing at his phone when she walks in. "Noah!" she cries, and he looks up at her, his expression moving from surprise to relief to--something Rachel can't quite decipher. It might be desire, it might be nostalgia, but in any case he seems happy to see her, and when she runs to him and hugs him tightly he grabs her and lifts her off her feet and spins her around.

"God, I missed you," he tells her. "I kind of get it now. I'd see your stuff on Facebook and it just kind of hurt. It'd have been so much worse, you know, if we were together. Like so close, and yet so far?"

She smiles sadly. "Yeah. I know."

"Let's go to dinner. Your choice."

They walk to a small hole-in-the-wall pizza parlor--Rachel chooses it in an effort not to impact his wallet too much--and Rachel is glad it's the middle of the week because it's fairly deserted.

"So...how are you even here?" she asks him, once they're seated and have their drinks.

"I drove."

"No, I mean...did you just decide to take a road trip? Are you here to see the sights? Or what?"

He shakes his head. "I was hoping you'd like to see my place after dinner. It's not much and I'm still unpacking, but it's all mine."

Rachel's eyes widen. "How long have you been here?"

He shrugs. "Couple weeks. I was living in a cheap hotel for a little bit. Once I got a job and a place and I got all my stuff into it, I sold my truck. I love public transportation."

"Where are you working?"

"I'm tending bar at a place called Monaghan's. Me and the guitar usually kill the crowd on open mic night. You should totally come and sing sometime."

"Bartending?" Rachel asks. "Where'd you learn that?"

"Some on the job, mostly from experience," he tells her. "Do you not remember my awesome mixology at the Rachel Berry House Party Trainwreck Extravaganza?"

Rachel hides her face behind her hand, her cheeks coloring. "Oh God, I've tried to erase what little I can remember about that night. I made out with Kurt's boyfriend. What the hell?"

Puck laughs, and their pizza arrives at that moment.

"What about school?" she asks him.

"I tried," he says. "It wasn't for me. It made Mom happy, I guess."

Rachel nods.

After dinner, they walk to his place. It's just a studio, but it's well-lit and clean, though there are a few stacks of unpacked boxes. Rachel is enchanted by the very New-York-ness of the exposed brick walls and scarred hardwood floor.

"This is real," she says, a little awestruck. "You're really here."

"Yeah," he says, and steps close to her. They're standing toe-to-toe and she puts a hand on his chest.

"Noah, I--"

"You said to call," he interrupts. She looks up at him, frowning, because they haven't had any interactions recently, until today. He clarifies. "If I ever came to New York, and wanted to be with you." He puts his hands on her waist. "I never stopped wanting to be with you, Rachel."

"Oh, Noah..." Rachel tilts her head back, and closes her eyes as he leans down for a kiss.

She spends the night and misses her morning classes in favor of cuddling and doesn't even care.

It takes them a while to figure things out since they're on opposite schedules, but they manage to have dinner together most days, and on the weekends Rachel often spends her evenings at the bar, wowing the crowd on open mic night, sometimes alone, sometimes duetting with Puck and his guitar.

At the end of the semester, Rachel opts to stay in the dorms while she auditions anywhere she can. She ends up landing the role of Christine in _The Phantom of the Opera_ in an off-Broadway production, and Puck is supportive as she spends six weeks rehearsing intensely, even though she's known the entire play backwards and forwards for years.

On opening night, two dozen yellow roses are delivered to the dressing room she's sharing with two other girls, with a card saying "Break a leg!" with a smiley face and a heart. Puck, Kurt, Blaine and her dads are in the front row to witness her magnificent performance. She and the man playing the Phantom are approached by a reporter afterwards, and Rachel grants her first interview completely blissed out on her dream coming true.

Puck takes her out to breakfast the next morning, and they stop and buy a copy of the paper. It's a rave review, five out of five stars, right at the top of the column.

"Rachel Berry is a newcomer to the New York theater scene, but I wouldn't call her a rising star--she is clearly already at the top, and we're sure to see this Juilliard student on Broadway very, very soon," Puck reads to her, since her hands are shaking too hard to hold the paper steady. "The chemistry between her and Justin Grant's Phantom is phenomenal--some of the best I've ever seen on stage." After he finishes reading, Puck keeps staring at the words.

Rachel sighs happily. "This is like getting _five_ gold stars," she says. "I can't believe it."

"Yeah. You were really great, Rach. He's...he's right about the chemistry," Puck says. "That Justin guy..."

"Yeah, Justin's great to work with. We play off each other so well. He's pretty amazing too."

Puck frowns. "Amazing?"

Rachel raises an eyebrow. "He's a great actor, with a wonderful voice."

Puck nods. "And you have great _chemistry_."

"What are you saying, Noah?"

"I don't know," he admits in frustration. "I just...I maybe got a little jealous when you kissed him at the end."

Rachel rolls her eyes. "It's in the script, Noah. In the movie. In the book, even. It's a stage kiss, it doesn't mean anything, and you better get used to it because I'm going to have to do it, and pretend to like it, every night for the next six weeks."

Puck swallows. He doesn't want to screw this up, but he's still jealous. "You're sure it doesn't mean anything?"

"Of course I'm sure, Noah, I'm not even a hundred percent sure Justin's straight in all honesty, and really, don't you trust me?"

"I--" and he hesitates, which is a mistake. Any answer other than "of course I trust you" is a fatal mistake.

"Noah Puckerman! I can't believe you! You used to be in glee, you know what it means to _act_. My God. This is never going to work if you can't get used to the fact that I'm going to have to give meaningless stage kisses to other people sometimes. You have to trust me when I tell you that that's all it is! You should know that you're the only man I love!" Rachel's eyes suddenly widen and she puts her hand over her mouth. Neither one of them have said that, at least not this time around.

"How come you're just now telling me, then?" Puck gets up from the table and throws money down for their bill. "Damn it, Rachel, why do we keep screwing this up?" He shakes his head and leaves the restaurant, and Rachel breaks down into tears.

* * *

And then...Perfection

It takes Puck all of a week and a half to realize that maybe he was the idiot and jerk this time, half a week to realize that he ought to apologize, another half a week to convince himself that if he does it right he might have a chance at winning Rachel back, and yet another half a week to plan it and steel his nerves.

He knows her schedule, and he arrives at the theater half an hour before she usually shows up. When she walks around the corner, coming from the subway stop, he's waiting. She catches sight of him and approaches with caution, and he hands her a bouquet ofjonquils. "They're kind of like gold stars," he says, with a half smile. As she takes them, looking down at them, an inner debate so clearly written on her face, he picks up the guitar he's had leaning against the theater wall, and there on the sidewalk, he starts to play and sing.

"I remember when I realized  
The depth of your beauty for the first time  
A million ears had heard you  
But none had listened quite like mine  
Every phrase that leaves your lips  
Makes me feel as if I'm paralyzed  
Talking is trivial, sing another crazy note  
And I will be a third below..."

Puck has been looking down at the ground, and now he closes his eyes, getting into the music. He can't look at her, he might lose his nerve if Rachel's not smiling.

She's smiling.

"The troubles that we knew before  
Disappear and all I know is that  
It makes no difference where you come from  
I don't care if you need my love  
You know I'll be there  
I swear I want to sing to the world  
No need to keep it a secret  
You are the one, the only  
My musical soulmate  
Darling, listen  
The audience is calling you  
There's no way in hell that  
They will ever feel you like I do  
It makes no difference where you come from  
I don't care if you need my love  
You know I'll be there  
I swear I want to sing to the world  
No need to keep it a secret  
You are the one, the only  
My musical soulmate."

As he strums the last few notes, Puck tentatively looks at Rachel. She has tears in her eyes. Rachel delicately fingers one of the petals in her hand. "You wrote me a song."

"Yeah. It's not the best, but I meant every word. When I say I don't care if you need my love, it's 'cause I know you don't. You'd probably be better off without me and my hard head, but I love you, and I hope that you might still just _want_ to have me around, Rach. I'm an idiot, and I was wrong, and I want to be better. I'm sorry, and if there's still an us to be had, I want us to quit solving our problems by breaking up." Puck takes in a deep breath, willing himself to stop talking for just a moment.

She bites her lip and looks up at him from underneath long lashes. Then she smiles. "I want that too," she admits.

Puck sets the guitar down and takes her in his arms, earning catcalls from some of the passersby that he only now realizes have stopped to hear him sing. "I love you," he says. "Maybe if I would've admitted it we wouldn't have argued at all."

"I love you too, Noah," she tells him. "But I wasn't sure you were ready to hear it."

He just leans down and kisses her.

If her performance that night shines even more brightly, no one can blame her.

True to his word, the next time they argue, Puck--after some guitar playing to let off steam--comes to her and works out a compromise.

When the fall semester starts and Rachel's new roommate turns out to be horrendous, she flees student housing and moves in with Puck. During her junior year, Rachel starts getting bigger and bigger parts, and starts actually seeing an increase in pay, and during the next summer they upgrade to a bigger apartment where the bedroom and living room are separate. Kurt is happy to jump in and help decorate, of course.

The summer after that, Rachel lands her first part on _Broadway_ \--Velma, in _Chicago_ \--and everything is just about perfect. Puck has been there for her all along the way, helping her rehearse and being her moral support and her way to destress.

He's lying on the bed with the windows open, letting in the warm breeze with only the light from the moon to see by, when she comes dragging in one night after rehearsals.

"Noah, I'm going to die," she announces dramatically, flopping into bed next to him. She smells fresh and clean from a shower at the theater. He rolls over, places an arm around her waist, and kisses her cheek.

"You're doing great, I'm sure."

"It's a lot of dancing," she tells him. "Way more than _Phantom_. I'm going to have a killer stomach by the time it's done, though."

"Pfft, you already do," he says, patting at it. "You're perfect."

She sits up, legs crossed, and puts her face in her hands. "I must not be too perfect," she tells him. "I'm not getting anywhere."

"Rach, you've got a lead role in a Broadway musical, and last I checked, that's kind of a big deal, even in New York." He pats at her back, not sure what's eating at her.

She sighs in exasperation. "I'm not talking about career wise, I'm talking about us. I didn't think things would turn out like this, I didn't think we'd be living together...I just wonder if I really made good decisions."

He frowns, sitting up and placing a hand on her shoulder. "What do you mean? Are you not happy, Rach?"

"It isn't that, Noah, it's just...my career is progressing so well, and you and I are still...just...dating. Cohabiting, I guess, but...it's not where I pictured us, is all. I thought there would be more commitment before I was living with someone, and as much as I love you, if you're not wanting to go forward, then maybe us staying together isn't the best thing for us." She sniffles, obviously miserable.

He lifts her chin so that he can look in her eyes, and doesn't let go until he's sure she's seen his intense stare. He leans in and kisses her. "You have to know, it isn't that I don't want to, Rachel," he says, then gets up off the bed and walks over to the dresser.

"Then what are you waiting for, Noah?" she asks, crawling to the foot of the bed as he digs through his sock drawer. She sits back, kneeling, as he turns around.

He holds his hand out in front of him. "The right moment," he says, and she sees he's got something in his hand. It isn't until she hears the distinctive click as he opens it that she realizes what it is--a jewelry box, with a ring inside.

She stares at it, sitting there on his flat, outstretched palm. " _Oh_." It's hard to see in the moonlight, but she can tell the band is gold and there's a delicate diamond.

He smiles. "I figured you'd want, you know, romance and spectacle, and I've been working on a big plan with Kurt for your opening night. You can have the ring now if you want, but I think you'll like it better if I put it back in the drawer again and you let me carry on planning."

She jumps off the bed and into his arms, throwing her arms around his neck. "I'm sorry I doubted you!"

He laughs, kissing her hair, then tilting her chin up again so he can kiss her lips. "You ready for bed?" She nods, and he returns the box to its temporary home among his socks. "No more breakups," he tells her. "I couldn't take it again. I love you."

"I think we can manage that, Noah," she says, and sits on the bed. "I love you, too."

He sits next to her and tangles his fingers through her hair, leaning in for another kiss, igniting a fire.

And they do manage it, quite well, through their engagement and marriage, through ups and downs, through a recording contract and a national tour, through anniversaries and childbirth, and through happily ever after.

**Author's Note:**

> The song Puck sings near the end is actually a Mark Salling song, so you can hear it in "Puck's" voice. Album version [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abxmqdwAJ3w), or [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8XHNPvRmoU) he is singing it live--so it would probably sound more like the latter, minus the violin.


End file.
